A new survey ranks the Tata Group as the most successful company in India, while Reliance Industries ranks a low 29.

TLG Partners, a London-based consultancy that advises companies on how to build their reputation and shareholder value, on Monday released the India Index of Thought Leaders, a list of the 100 most successful and influential companies in India.

The list is topped by the Tata Group, which replaces Infosys, followed by Google India Maruti Suzuki India Apple leapt from number 40– a position it had in 2011, when the study was last carried out – to number four, even though it has minimal business in India. The Delhi Metro Rail Corp is a new entrant at number five. This state-owned company has won several plaudits for efficiently constructing a world class metro network connecting this vast city.

The list has Indian companies and a few global firms, as well as a few state owned companies. Indian conglomerates that make an appearance include the Aditya Birla Group (17) and the Mahindra Group (10).

And though Forbes pegs Mukesh Ambani as the richest Indian, money alone clearly doesn’t translate into success and influence on this list as Reliance Industries comes in at 29, up from 31 in 2011.

“Size does not automatically equate to thought leadership potential,” said TLG founder Malcolm Gooderham. “We’ve seen this when we conducted surveys in America. GE does not fare well on the survey.”

A Reliance spokesman said he was not aware of the survey.

TLG outsourced the research to data firm Nielsen, which put together a panel of 100 people from four sectors: business, media, civil society and government.

Nielsen carried out its research in two steps over a 10 week period. In the first step, the panelists nominate companies that can qualify to be thought leaders. In the second step, panelists score these companies against TLG’s leadership criteria—integrity, influence and innovation.

A TLG spokeswoman explained the study looked beyond the headlines: “What the Index results show is that these companies ultimately have very strong brands, which can withstand external shocks/debt crises/bad press etc. The brands are too strong to be defined by one or two bad events and their ability to still come out on top shows the importance of investing in your brand reputation.”

TLG has been carrying out this survey in the U.K. and the U.S. since 2007. It expanded this survey to emerging economies, starting with India in 2011, Brazil in 2012 and China this year. This is TLG’s second survey on India and it’s considering making this an annual list starting next year, a spokeswoman said.